car crash

Anna23

Yday at around 5.30 I had a small car accident, I rear ended someone, she was trying to turn left and u are not allowed to turn left, anyway I know its my fault that I hit her the damage isn’t big at all, only 2 scratches, no dent in the bumper, what I am concerned about is that, I called the gardai and she didn’t want me to call them, she kept saying its ur fault u hit me and I said yes I know I hit u as u were misleading the traffic as u were trying to do an illegal turn, she took my details she didn’t bother giving me hers, and she just left, before the gardai were even able to come, she said to me it’s a company car, I asked her to relax a bit as its only minor damage, she apologized got into her car and left with my details, all I managed to do was take a pic of her car where I hit her oh and get her car reg number, and she was gone, so I called my insurance last night and I told them what happened, I was wondering what I am supposed to have done, she left the accident and that was it…..so I am left wondering now if she will claim against me or not as it was a company car.

Does anyone know, or has anyone been in a similar situation??

I have uploaded a pic on page 2

MLM

What happened when the gaurds arrived?

jhegarty

Me thinks she didn't have a license/insurance/tax.....

did you wait for them to arrive ?

Saruman

Depends on her.. no way to answer that question.
A van driver rear ended me approaching the red cow. I was stopped in traffic for about 2 mins and then bam! When i got out to inspect the damage he said "sorry, its just you stopped so fast??" Eh... there was a wall of traffic in front of me and i was not moving Anyway i said nothing, looked at the back of my company santa fé. There was a scratch. No actual damage. I even had a smashed tail light (not caused by accident). His van was smashed and his radiator pouring water all over the place I left him to it and did not even take his details. If it was my own car, then maybe but since there was only a scratch and no physical damage, i left him to it.

eve

jhegarty wrote:

Me thinks she didn't have a license/insurance/tax.....

Or she realised that she was doing something illegal and didn't want to have to explain it to the garda

crosstownk

The Gardai probably wouldn't have come to the scene. They generally only come if there is someone injured or there is a major disruption to traffic flow. You hit the rear of her car so therefore it's your fault, it's a civil matter and not one for the Gardai. Sort it out either among yourselves, or go through your insurers.

DublinDilbert

IMO you done the correct thing by calling the garda... if they don't arrive i would of went to the nearest garda station and made a statement... i would of also given them the details of the driver which left the scene...

It sounds doggy that she didn't want to hang around for them... she might not be insured, eg it may be her husbands company car and she is not covered to drive it ect...

Anna23

No the gardai did not arrive as I was on the phone with her and I said well theres no need as she is leaving! she kept saying why do u need to call the gardai for ...and I said well its an accident I want a report as u were turning left illegaly and I want them to see it, she got really pissed off at me at that stage and said sorry but left, why she said sorry I dont know.....and she got so annoyed with me, aghhh I dont know it all happened so fast!

ambro25

Saruman wrote:

Anyway i said nothing, looked at the back of my company santa fé. There was a scratch. No actual damage. I even had a smashed tail light (not caused by accident). His van was smashed and his radiator pouring water all over the place I left him to it and did not even take his details. If it was my own car, then maybe but since there was only a scratch and no physical damage, i left him to it.

I hear ye, but... not wise. You just never know if that shunt didn't start 'something major' which will only surface in a month or a year through wear and tear biased by a crack/rupture/whatever.

Speaking from experience here, just my €0,02

Ger the man

The main thing is that you were not hurt and you were right to call the police. She didnt do herself any favours by leaving the scene of the accident though.

siralfalot

Anna23 wrote:

No the gardai did not arrive as I was on the phone with her and I said well theres no need as she is leaving! she kept saying why do u need to call the gardai for ...and I said well its an accident I want a report as u were turning left illegaly and I want them to see it, she got really pissed off at me at that stage and said sorry but left, why she said sorry I dont know.....and she got so annoyed with me, aghhh I dont know it all happened so fast!

she got pissed off with you?? she was the one making the Illegal manouver, okay you did hit her, but she was the one stopped where she should not have been, I'd do the right thing and report the bitch

subway

i would have thought its irrelevant what she was doing.
the driver behind is supposed to keep distance, what if a child ran out etc etc.

my point is, she must have some other reason to leave the scene if the gardai were coming.
however i would have thought the OP would be delighted not to have to pay for her claim???

Marcus.Aurelius

Leaving the scene of an accident is an offence, her refusal to give you her details is also an offence. With that catalogue of stupidity on her part, I doubt you'll hear from her insurers, their claim would be seriously damaged by her actions at the scene.

Dublin14

Regardless of if she was turning right or left - you crashed into the back of her.....!!! She hadn't made the left hand turn so hadn't actually done anything illegal.....

Why didn't you make sure you had her details first before giving her yours....???

mike65

Lads the OP knows she was in the wrong so lets just be helpful rather than wag a finger eh?

Mike.

Anna23

Because I was so scared of her she was so annoying, I was terrified and when she said why do I have to call the gardai thats what amazed me!

She just went over to my car and took the insurance details without me giving her anything, she asked for my address but I didnt give out anything to her, she jsut took m y policy number, my name and my reg, and she caused a scene up until I told her to relax as I AM trying to resolve this in a nice way, thats when she headed to her car got into her car and said sorry.

Dublin14

So, if the OP knows she's in the wrong - what's the problem...?? None of us can say if the other driver is going to claim or not....... The OP gave out her insurance details and admitted liability at the scene.

OP - wait and see if she claims, if she does, you'll be notified and then you can decide to let it go through your insurance company or pay it yourself...

Marcus.Aurelius

We crashed a few years ago, when someone braked hard to do an illegal U-turn on the N11. About 4 or 5 cars rear-ended each other, the perp got away, but we wrote down her reg plate. When the Gardaí arrived, they took all details and wrote down her reg. When the insurers all got together, they decided it was her fault completely and the claim was settled with all of us for £50,000.

Dublin14

Anna23 wrote:

Because I was so scared of her she was so annoying, I was terrified and when she said why do I have to call the gardai thats what amazed me!

God Anna23 you seem to spend your days being "terrified" of people - in work - on the roads..........!!! I'm surprised you leave your house....

C_Breeze

Ugh , stop being such do-gooders by the book. The way I see it , if nobody is hurt and there is no major damage (ie a dent as opposed to a tiny scratch) just exchange numbers and get on with your lives. no need to wait there and calling the guards and obstructing traffic .

rubyred

crosstownk wrote:

You hit the rear of her car so therefore it's your fault, QUOTE]
Not necessarily. I work in a legal firm dealing with litigation. We had a client who rear-ended someone's car, but the car in front didn't have working break lights. It ended up being his fault, as he didn't give any warning to the car behind that he was stopping.

If one car is doing something illegal, they can be reported for driving without due care and attention. Then if they claim against your insurance, the claim has to wait until the driving offence is sorted. If she is convicted, she cannot win her claim against you as she is already convicted of being in the wrong.

Doolittle51

Dublin14 wrote:

OP - wait and see if she claims, if she does, you'll be notified and then you can decide to let it go through your insurance company or pay it yourself...

Not necessarily. If someone claims from your insurance company, and they have determined that you are liable, they sometimes just pay out without consulting you. The only way you find out is if you chase up the claim, or get a surprise when you see your next years premium minus NCB.

Anna23

Ì didnt admit that it was my fault, I said yes I hit u but I hit you because of u, you were misleading traffic, yes I hit u but its because of ur actions on the road, and yes I tried to everything by the book, anyway I will wait and see if she makes a claim, if she does I will tell them that she left the and that I was not really able to get anything of her!

I will just have to wait and see what she is doing, after all the insurance company has told me because it was a company car and the damage was minor she might not make a claim, well the company might not make a claim.

thats the damage to her car!

crosstownk

rubyred wrote:

We had a client who rear-ended someone's car, but the car in front didn't have working break lights. It ended up being his fault, as he didn't give any warning to the car behind that he was stopping.

From the original post it would appear that the driver in front had not yet made the illegal left turn..............so an offence had not yet been commited.

I've heard stories before about claims being reduced because of brake lights not working but I've never heard of one like you describe. Interesting to know.

cornbb

I'd say forget about it and move on, its not worth the hassle of even thinking about.

The fact that she tried to make an illegal turn and then left the accident means she would need to be pretty thick to try to extract any money from you.

If the damage to your car was any worse I'd advise pursuing it but that scratch is hardly worth losing sleep over.

Anna23

Well I hope that she doesnt do anything, should I CALL HER, as I have seen the car and I know where its parked in front of what company, so I am sure I can find the woman!

There was no damage to my car at all!

Mitch Connor

I know someoen who hit another car from behind because they stopped dead on a round about when they saw a garda car approaching. The garda saw it happen, and said it was the fault of the fella that slammed on the brakes.

Dacelonid

Why don't you ring your insurance company and inform them of what happened. Explain everything, especially about her leaving the scene of an accident and not providing you with her insurance details. They will be more than happy to hear that as there is no way they will pay out on it.

Alternatively if you don't want to talk to your insurance company, go to the Gardai and explain everything. I am sure they will give you some good advice on how to handle the situation.

Guarenteed though, your insurance company will be very unwilling to pay up if the other person left the scene of an accident.

Dublin14

Phone her.......... track her down..........??? NO....!!!

Contact your insurance company and perhaps the gardai (ask your insurance company if you need to inform the gardai) then just forget about it and move on to your next drama........

Doolittle51

Dacelonid wrote:

Why don't you ring your insurance company and inform them of what happened. Explain everything, especially about her leaving the scene of an accident and not providing you with her insurance details. They will be more than happy to hear that as there is no way they will pay out on it.

Anna23 wrote:

I called my insurance last night and I told them what happened,

...

Doolittle51

Dublin14 wrote:

God Anna23 you seem to spend your days being "terrified" of people - in work - on the roads..........!!! I'm surprised you leave your house....

Dublin14 wrote:

just forget about it and move on to your next drama........

No need to get personal here, the OP is just looking for some advice.